A Fool's Revenge
by Scorpia710
Summary: For SpyFest 2011. A tremendous noise split the quiet neighborhood, and even knowing he should not glance back and witness what Scorpia had planned to take place-even with Wolf and Eagle both pulling him away, Alex looked.


Disclaimer: I don't own Alex Rider. Are you shocked? I'm just now getting over it myself!

Though his story wasn't the saddest he had ever heard, it wasn't a very happy one.

People are selfish and at times cruel. Mr. Blunt was no exception, and Alex had quickly learned that. With his life in the hands of a cold-hearted man, Alex didn't see his time on earth becoming happier anytime soon.

The sun still shone, because…that's what it was made to do and it did its job well. It seemed to Alex, that after the things he had witnessed, something in the world should have changed; a visible sign should have been left behind after all the death and cruelty he had seen.

The world did not agree with this.

Life went on even as he lay in bed, at the only true home he had ever known. Scorpia's hired assassin hadn't managed to kill him, something Alex found amusing when he was not in pain from the slowing healing wound.

Easing himself up, Alex glanced out his curtained window at the empty street below. It had to be about mid-day now, but because Alex had taken his clock out of the room after staring at it for hours without end, he couldn't know the exact time.

He left the bed, and considering how he felt no pain, not even the familiar pull of stitches, his pain medication from earlier that day was still working. He'd ran out yesterday, but some doctor from the hospital had been thoughtful enough to send Alex enough to last another week the very same day he ran out.

This brand seemed to work better, something that Alex was grateful for, and he sent a silent thank you to the thoughtful doctor.

Hoping to sneak some kind of fattening food from the kitchen, preferably one of Jack's 'hidden' comfort food items, Alex made his way quietly downstairs.

Jack had a strict stay-in-bed policy fueled by the doctor's concern and her own. It simply was not sane for one person to stay in one room alone for so long; and anything that had once held his attention, had now worn thin.

Because he had not heard anyone come in, there was no way for Alex to expect what he saw. Downstairs was not as empty as he had thought.

Staring at the back of three heads from the doorway of the living room, Alex felt a mixture of bemusement and anger roll in his stomach. Two of the men had darker hair than the other. One of the dark haired men was speaking now, complete with calming gestures of his hands and a confidence in his tone of voice.

"Don't worry about him, Miss Starbright; carry on as you normally would. We've done this before-"

"The other guy wasn't a kid," the shorter of the two dark haired men muttered abruptly as he brushed the hair back from his face with one hand. "We shouldn't be watching a bloody brat," he muttered, arms crossed.

"And if any attempts are made," the other dark-haired man continued with total seriousness, "which I heavily doubt, we'll have them bleeding from every pore-"

"Descriptive answer _not_ needed," the blond man cut in. "What he means to say, is that your ward is perfectly safe with us."

"MI6 sent you?" The doubt was clear in her tone, and though Alex could not see Jack, he knew she'd have her arms crossed and one hip jutted out to the side.

There was a rustle as the blond haired man pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket.

"Here's the order, signed by Mr. Blunt himself." He held it out, but Jack didn't reach for it.

"Orders signed by him mean nothing to me," Jack said. "It's his fault Alex is hurt in the first place. But I believe you…how long do you have to stay?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but what was his name? Alex, you said?" the slightly shorter man interrupted. He had a curious look on his face, and his arms slowly uncrossed.

Jack nodded, "Yeah, he's upstairs hopefully resting-" it was then that Jack spotted him in the doorway. "Alex," she scolded, "you're supposed to be sleeping."

Alex smiled at her reassuringly, "I'm fine, and besides, how could I miss all this?" He turned to face the staring men. "Come to play, Wolf?"

The reaction could be read in the way Wolf's shoulders tensed. At the same time, the blond haired man jumped around, one hand reaching for his pocket. Comprehension was alight in their eyes, but it was not a completely pleased expression.

"What the hell? Cub?"

"Last time I looked. It's nice to see you're still as pleasant as ever."

Wolf's brazen behavior had mellowed out into self-confidence when Alex had seen him back at Point Blanc. Though he still managed to be cheeky and irritating when he wanted to, Wolf had become more amiable towards Alex.

Because of this, Alex was already expecting a grin from Wolf when he turned around. Instead, he was greeted with surprise and a quickly increasing amount of apprehension.

It felt weird smiling as he was doing so now, since the three present members of K Unit just stared. Alex felt his smile fall back down to a now familiar frown. Jack came forward toward Alex, her eyes scolding him for getting out of bed after she had told him to rest.

"I'd introduce you, but I don't know their names and it seems that you don't need me to tell you anyway," Jack said as she came to stand beside Alex in a silent show of support.

Wolf shifted to his other foot, both hands going to his pockets. There was a troubled look on his face as he surveyed Alex, not even attempting to be furtive in his examination. The other two men, whom Alex remembered as Snake and Eagle, also appeared disquieted with the situation.

Alex cleared his throat and Jack, perhaps sensing the unease, rested her hand on his arm for the barest of moments. With a grateful grin down at the kitchen's tiled floor, Alex gestured to the closest man.

"This is Eagle, that's Snake, and you've already heard me mention Wolf," Alex ended, having gestured to each man for Jack's benefit.

"Yes, how do you know them again, Alex? I would have remembered men named after animals. Is it some required participation in a cult?" She was joking, but Eagle was starting to look worried.

"I go to church," he muttered.

Jack smiled politely and replied. "Of course you do...man-bear-pig, was it?"

"What-no! It's Eagle. It's necessary to use a code name." He sounded annoyed, but Jack just exchanged a glance with Alex. K Unit was not going to have it easy here; Jack would see to that.

Allowing strange men into her home was not going to come without some pain for the intruders. Had K Unit not treated Alex unkindly in the past, he would have felt bad...but they did, and this was the most entertaining thing to happen to Alex in weeks.

Wolf cleared his throat, "I need to check the house for any security faults before we get too...comfortable. Snake, your assistance would be appreciated; you know more about alarm systems then I do."

Feeling that he was being misled, Alex eyed them going through the living room and then upstairs to supposedly check the alarm systems. Smoke started producing out of the oven and cursing creatively, Jack flew over to the oven and threw it open.

"Hope a bit of charcoal taste is okay with you, Alex...or a lot, in this case," Jack said as the looked critically into the oven while waving away smoke.

Overhead, Alex could hear light treading footsteps as Snake and Wolf walked above their heads.

"Eagle, why don't you tell Jack about how we know each other," Alex suggested.

A look of dreading came over Eagle's face, "Oh, she doesn't want to know about that-it's a real boring story-"

"Oh, of course I want to know," Jack said, as she took a tray of what might have once been chicken out of the oven. "I bet you and Alex were best friends, probably saved each other's life, haven't you? When I happen to hear about all those people out to hurt him, it just pisses me off. I'd like to murder every one of them-so it's good to know that at least one guy was treating Alex like a rightfully deserves."

There was no verbal answer he could give without lying, or revealing that he had been an Alex-abuser too. Eagle looked around, seeking help from the kitchen walls, appliances, and then from Alex.

Unsurprisingly, Alex did not feel inclined to help. "I just remembered something I have to do upstairs," Alex said vaguely. What he would have given for a picture of Eagle's face at that instant...

"Maybe I ought to go with you-" Eagle said slowly. Alex waved away his excuse, and in so doing, vanished his only way of escaping Jack's inquiries.

"No need, I think I can manage climbing the stairs-unless you fear attacking ninja's hiding in the shadows," he said sarcastically. "You go ahead and tell Jack about how we got to know each other, I'll check later and make sure she didn't miss out on any of the interesting details."

Disgruntled, Eagle did not follow Alex as he made his way out the room. Quietly going up the stairs, Alex peered around the banister toward the top of the stairs looking for a sign as to where Wolf and Snake had disappeared to.

While doing so, Alex had to pause and think about his actions, he'd wanted to break away from everything that came with spying and now he was doing the exact same thing in his own home.

"...expect...injured."

Wolf's baritone was riddled with confusion, and even only catching a few words, Alex knew where they were at. He moved stealthily towards Ian's old office, still feeling odd and rather like a stalker.

"I talked to Fox a few months ago, he told me he saw Cub; but made it sound like the kid was fine," Snake muttered. "I hadn't even thought about Cub until he went and mentioned him."

They were talking about him, but why? It almost sounded like-Snake had gone quiet, and a second before he would have pulled away, Alex's shirt collar was in Wolf's strong grasp.

"Really Cub, it's amazing you aren't dead. Work on your eavesdropping technique, I heard your elephant feet a mile away," Wolf said disapprovingly as he pulled Alex into the room.

Alex glanced back at the door as Snake shut it firmly, fighting back a slowly rising uneasiness.

With the door shut any sounds from downstairs were completely blocked, and Snake who had seemed fine talking to Wolf when Alex was not there, had suddenly gone quiet.

The silence settled, and a question that Alex had as soon as he had seen Wolf's confused face downstairs in the kitchen, burst out.

"MI6 didn't tell you, did they?" Alex asked, watching Wolf for a reaction.

"That I was going to end up babysitting you? No, they didn't." Though he clearly was not amused, Alex certainly was. He laughed and Wolf speared him with a sharp, angry glare.

"It's not funny, Cub...the training I went through wasn't just so I could follow your injured arse around," Wolf stalked to the window of Ian's old office and roughly pushed the dusty curtain away to glare down at the street below.

Alex watched as dust from the fabric curtains fell to the carpet around Wolf's booted feet.

Neither he nor Jack came into this room; it was not used even though they had both mentioned all the things they could do with the free space.

After a minute of silence, Wolf took a breath and glanced back at Alex. He had a frown that seemed unmovable, but his eyes were dark and curious.

"What did you do to yourself, anyway?"

Hesitating, because sarcasm at the moment might not be appreciated, Alex shifted to ease some of the pressure off his sore leg. "I didn't do anything to myself, that would probably qualify as self-injury...or masochistic."

They were not fazed, the humor Alex used strengthened their resolve for a straight answer.

"Actually...I got shot."

It was interesting how fast one could go from an interested worry, to horrified amazement.

Wolf did not pale but, he did go still.

"It was bound to happen," Alex added, "considering some of the stuff MI6 had me doing, and the people I pissed off-I really should be dead."

That did not help...at all. Now regretting his choice of words as Wolf still did not reply, Alex looked at Snake.

Snake gave him a shrug, and reached out a hand that lingered in the air hesitantly before awkwardly clapping him on the shoulder.

"He does that sometimes, just freezes up when he's caught off his guard. Unfortunately, It's one of the reasons we're here," Snake said and steered Alex toward the doorway. "He'll come back to himself in a minute, best not to be here when he does."

Alex descended the stairs with Snake following and talking in a low voice, "He gets real embarrassed, and that leads to an overload of...well, you know Wolf. He's usually dauntless."

'Usually', Alex agreed to himself thinking back to when he had happily kicked Wolf's ass out of an in-flight airplane. "Why are you guys here? Because, regardless of how Wolf meant it, this does feel like babysitting."

They were in the living room, and Alex could hear Eagle arguing with Jack in the next room. Apparently, arguing was something they both did well and liked to practice it often.

Snake took a seat on the humble couch that Alex had grown up with.

Buying furniture and shopping for anything in general was one thing Ian had hated doing. From the ages of four to twelve, Alex had slept in the same bed, his ankles hanging over the edge. Snake rubbed his blond brows with one hand, while studying the nick-knacks that lay across the coffee table.

"S'not really my place to say, so you ask Wolf. Preferably when I'm around," he added with a smirk. Raising both eyebrows, Alex tilted his head clearly saying 'do tell?', but Snake refused with a brisk shake of his head.

From the tall windows of the room that Alex stood beside, the slightly paranoid lady next door could be seen looking up and down the street as she dropped a letter in her postal box before glancing around once again and sprinting for the house. Maybe slightly paranoid was a little understated; Alex thought and looked back at Snake with a grin.

"It's so odd that you're here," Alex stated, and that so far you're being civil, he thought.

Eagle came in, looking far more frustrated than he had appeared when Alex had first seen him in the kitchen.

"Is that your mum?" Eagle asked incredulously as he pointed back at the kitchen where they could hear Jack singing ABBA.

"It would explain why you're so obnoxious," he muttered and slumped down to sit beside Snake who looked thoroughly amused.

"I beg to differ. And Jack's not my mum," Alex said and quieted as Wolf came downstairs. His skin had a pinkish tint that usually told of embarrassment, but he showed no other signs of his odd behavior.

"I didn't realize you actually worked for MI6," Snake said. "How did that happen?"

The pain medication he had taken earlier was wearing off, even though it was nothing to fret over, the jolt of unpleasantness traveled from his chest down his left leg. Alex sat down on the window ledge to rest while thinking of a response.

"I don't work for them," he said honestly. Snake looked like he suspected a trick and narrowed his blue eyes.

Wolf too, was confused. "You were working for them a few months ago; when you led me and my team around Point Blanc…did you get fired?"

Expectantly they waited for an answer. With all eyes trained on him (except for Jack who had moved on from ABBA straight to belting out an American pop song) Alex decided to be truthful again. He had no reason to be deceitful. Even though he was not technically supposed to talk about his arrangement with MI6, if there was anyone he could talk to, it was K Unit.

"To be considered 'working' for someone, you have to be paid," he said.

It took a moment, but the result of his patience was rewarding. Wolf caught on first, but just looked more confused while Eagle and Snake leaned toward affronted.

"They don't pay you? But…what did you get in return for that mission in Point Blanc? I saw the injuries from that one, it's amazing you didn't die-and all those boys got to go home because of you," Wolf said. There was hesitancy in his voice that led Alex to believe Wolf did not really want to know why he did not get paid.

Alex could certainly understand that, his life was turning out to be a grim Charles Dickens's novel. At least Pip had great expectations; all Alex could expect, was to die during one of MI6's insane missions.

"In return, I don't get sent to an orphanage. Oh, and Jack gets to stay in the UK. Guess nobody taught them to play nice when they were children," Alex said, adding the last part of his sentence when a dour look traveled across Snake's face.

"Not sure they ever were children," Jack put in from the doorway of the living room. She leaned on the doorway while putting on her shoes. "Alex, a friend of mine just called. You know Elisha, right? She needs a favor, and I owe her so I'm going to leave but I'll be back in a few hours…you'll be okay?"

Alex looked around at Wolf, Eagle and Snake then back to Jack. "Hmm, three trained SAT men-and you know I can kick anyone's arse. I think we'll be fine, Jack."

Shaking her head, Jack turned to look sternly at Wolf. "I'm guess'in you're the leader of this bunch. Keep him safe, or I'll hold you personally responsible." With those sweet, parting words, Jack left in a blur of red hair and swinging purse.

Eagle stared after her, "Now the lack of worry over whoever is after you is explained, living with her must be a lot scarier."

Alex grinned and shifted on his uncomfortable seat. "Jack is awesome; you are just biased because she intimidates you."

Eagle spluttered and Wolf, trying not to grin, leaned forward with his arms on his knees and hands clasped together.

Before Eagle could respond, Alex spoke up. "I've been here with no contact with MI6 ever since I left the hospital. What makes them think that I need you here now?"

Looking offended at the jolly couch cushions, Wolf tossed them in Snake's general direction and settled down comfortably.

"Just because you haven't had contact with anyone doesn't mean they aren't watching," Wolf chuckled. "It's MI6 we're talking about, Cub. You've been under surveillance for-well, before you were even injured. Don't go telling anyone I said that," he warned, pointing at Alex sternly before continuing. "MI6 thought the little surveillance would be enough to make Scorpia stay back. Kind of a barmy idea if you ask me."

Alex frowned, "How's it barmy?"

The three members of K Unit traded looks. "There's a flaw in that way of thinking. You never got the information on the higher levels of groups like we did. Trust me when I say, that if Scorpia really wants to kill you, no camera is going to stop that," Snake said.

"That just fills me to the brim with hope," Alex muttered brusquely, crossing his arms.

"Truthfully, I don't think Blunt is worried about you," Wolf cut in. "If he was, you'd be out of here in a heartbeat. Scorpia's been quieter than normal, no activity from them at all in the past three weeks. This is either a blessing, and they've finally found a better activity than seeking revenge."

"Or they're planning," Eagle suggested, only aggrieving Alex all the more so that he shot a disgruntled glare at the man.

When Eagle did not catch it, or ignored him, Alex thought over what Wolf said. "And MI6 thinks it's the second one?"

Eagle shrugged, "They aren't thinking too deeply about it, we're just here because Wolf acted stupid and they did not really know what else to do with us. By sticking us with you, they killed two birds with one stone…no death jokes meant."

Snake rolled his eyes at Eagle, while Wolf's face became a curious color of pink.

"Don't ask, Cub," he snapped as Alex opened his mouth. Grinning, Alex looked down at his sock covered feet.

He was extremely curious about whatever Wolf had done to cause such amusement, embarrassment and trouble. Snake and Eagle were obviously sworn to some type of manly secrecy…so; he'd have to find his own means.

"Did anyone tell you why Scorpia's seeking old-fashioned revenge on me?" he asked abruptly.

Snake shook his head, as did Eagle and Wolf answered, "No, they just said they were pissed and that you were in possible danger. We didn't get the how's or why's, and we didn't ask."

Alex nodded, "Oh, okay."

He then stood up, and leaving them all there wondering, headed to the kitchen.

Gratefully, he opened the cabinet doors before the three men followed him. The wooden doors to the cabinet hid his smile; Alex could literally feel their curiosity.

"Hey, mate, you can't just leave like that!" Eagle said and propped himself against the counter facing Cub. "Finish the bloody story!"

Alex maliciously dug out the peanut butter, bread and the last ingredient for this delicacy-his strawberry jam with sloth-like movements before glancing at the expectant faces.

"I don't really feel inclined to say," Alex said slowly, pulling a plate down and pulling out two slices of bread. "It was a very traumatic experience."

"I'm sure," Wolf said dryly.

"Honestly, it was. But…I might be willing to trade," Alex turned sideways to face them and copied Eagle's pose, arms crossed and almost smirking.

Snake had a slowly spreading smile, and Alex knew that he had caught on while the other two were still blank.

"What do you want, Cub?" Wolf said impatiently.

Alex smiled indulgently and pushed his plate, jam and peanut butter towards Eagle.

"A story for a story-and a sandwich 'cause I'm starving," he said and eyed the food in front Eagle.

Wolf frowned, "No-"

"Oh, don't be a bloody prat!" Eagle griped at Wolf, as he began to open the peanut butter with an undiscerning look at Cub. "I'm playing servant to a-how old are you?"

"Fourteen-and be light on the jam there," Alex answered.

Eagle had paused in his slathering of the peanut butter on bread to gape, "What was MI6 thinking? Have they all gone fucking bonkers!"

"I'd like to think I've done an okay job!"

Snake sighed and put up a calming hand, "You did, Cub. You did brilliant, but you should not have had to do anything involving the government in the first place. Eagle isn't insulting you-Wolf, come on mate."

Looking put-upon, Wolf gave a self-sacrificing sigh and straightened his slumped back where he sat facing them all from the dining table.

"Fine, but only because you prats won't bloody shut up," he said and Snake, Alex and Eagle exchanged a smirk.

"I was doing a necessary jumping test, like the one we did in Brecon Beacons. I was the second to the last to go, and waiting for the other guy in front of me to jump. He was taking bloody long, just staring out of the plane," here Wolf paused, appearing pained.

"I, uh…thought he was having a confidence problem, so I thought I should give him a nudge."

"You didn't!" Alex gasped, trying not to laugh but not being able to help it when Wolf shot him a glare.

"Yes, I kicked his arse out of the plane," Wolf said. Before Alex had time to stop laughing and ask why this would get in trouble, the man had continued quickly.

"Unfortunately for me, it wasn't a confidence issue. The prat was having a problem with his parachute, or so he said. And while he was fumbling to find what was wrong, I kicked him out."

There was a silence as Alex tried to grasp what was being said. "Did-is he dead?" Alex asked hesitantly.

After a moment of painful quiet, Wolf decided to alleviate Alex's worry. "No, he's fine. Having a foot shoved up your arse apparently brings everything into focus, he found what he was looking for on his parachute and landed a few minutes later. He was ruffled, but unharmed."

"Ruffled is right," Eagle snickered, "from the way you made it sound Wolf, I thought he was going to strangle you with the parachute cords." Passing Alex his sandwich with a dry grin, Eagle went to sit opposite of Wolf.

"He tried to hit me with his little lady fists," Wolf said, now trying to stop himself from laughing. Looking like he was re-living it in his mind, Wolf's smile turned into a chuckle.

"Cub is lucky, Wolf," Snake said. "Just because he didn't get you seriously injured does not mean that you'll have the same luck with another person."

"Should have known that already," Cub said in-between bites of his sandwich. "I'm lucky. This is good Eagle; I should blackmail you into making me food."

Eagle rolled his eyes, "I'm scared to think of what you'll find to blackmail me with."

Alex's home was not particularly large but, all three men and Alex easily managed to sit around the four people table that had inhabited his home for so long. There had never been a continual use of the fourth chair between Alex, Jack and Ian unless one of Alex's friends came over. With Ian gone, the lack of his presence in that chair had seemed so noticeable.

Also noticeable, was his silence to the other members of K Unit. Snake was watching Alex, and the uncomfortable thought that he knew what he was thinking came to mind.

He toyed with the untouched crusts of his sandwich, and then asked suddenly, "Wonder when Jack will be back," and wanted to hit himself after saying it.

Wolf raised an eyebrow, "She left not even fifteen minutes ago, Cub. That gives you plenty of time to make up for my embarrassing tale. For example, why is Scorpia so pissed at you?"

"And where did you get shot?" Snake asked after a wince appeared on Alex's face as he tried to find a comfortable position in his seat. Stilling suddenly, Alex looked up to find them all waiting.

Though he had said he'd answer any questions, it also made him uncomfortable to talk about himself. He felt the need to tone down the truth to something more believable, because in this case, the truth almost seemed like a lie.

"Alex?"

The sound of his name broke Alex out of his brief lapse into the past, and as he looked up, he could clearly recognize the emotion on their faces. It was worry, and even if it was a sort of worry that they probably did not like expressing, K Unit was doing so right now.

"Cub, where's your meds at? You look pale as paper," Eagle muttered, squinting at Alex.

It was true; Alex felt the blood draining out of his face.

"Guess I've just been overdoing it," he admitted.

Wolf stood up, "Let's put you back upstairs-or you can just lie on the couch, you should have told us you weren't feeling good sooner."

Alex waved off Wolf's offer to help him up from his chair, "I'll be fine in a minute, and my meds are next to my bed if someone wants to get them?"

Eagle went off to do that and Snake fetched a glass of water for Alex without being asked.

"Don't put on a macho act, Alex," Snake warned as he placed the glass before Alex. "That would just harm yourself, and eventually your pride if you collapsed."

Under his keen stare, Alex almost felt like shrinking back but caught himself in time. That would only be received as guilt on his part, and without further ado, he'd be whisked to bed if not carried there over Wolf's own shoulder.

Alex grinned over his cup of water even as he held it shakily. "No macho act here, I promise. I'm fine, probably just a reaction to a different medication."

"Different medication? You started taking a different brand than what the doctor gave you?" Snake asked.

Eagle was coming back down the stairs, sounding like a hoard of ravaging animals.

"I've got it!" This announcement was met with Snake snatching the meds out of his hand as he walked into the kitchen.

He studied the back of the bottle while Eagle looked askance from Alex and Wolf.

"Er, do we still get a story?" he asked uncertainly. "I mean, nothing is wrong, right?"

Alex glanced at Snake, who was still studying the medication with a frown. Perhaps it was just a natural curiosity, or pessimistic attitude that had Snake so immersed.

"Yeah, Eagle, everything's fine. Since you know about Scorpia, I assume you now about Julia Rothman?"

Wolf's eyebrows creased as he sat and crossed his arms pensively. "Please tell me didn't have anything to do with that bitch?"

Alex laughed in surprise at Wolf's blunt words. Eagle was even nodding in agreement while Snake remained oblivious to what they were talking about and was sniffing the contents of the bottle.

"Um, yeah, I realized that a little too late," Alex said and ran a hand into his hair as he nervously prepared himself for what he was about to say.

"I heard she died," Snake announced, putting the top back on the medication.

Almost choking from this sudden pronouncement, Alex looked warily at Snake.

He did not seem to notice the effect his words had on Alex, but Wolf was frowning. Too late Alex looked away from him, and Wolf's dark eyes grew wide with realization at what had not been said, but what had been hinted at.

"Alex-"

"Don't you make that conclusion, Wolf!" Alex said. "Scorpia was planning something bigger than you can imagine. They were going to put a satellite in a hot air balloon and at a certain height; they were going to activate nanoshells." Even knowing that he was going to have to explain everything later in greater detail, Alex went on.

"The SAS was about to come in, but they would have been too late. As the balloon began to rise, I jumped on the balloon and damaged the satellite." The fight on the balloon was left out, and Alex did not feel that it needed to be mentioned. "The balloon plunged to the ground-I couldn't stop it Wolf, and Rothman didn't move in time."

There was a silence only penetrated when Eagle asked, "What?"

Snake was even looking a little off kilter, as if someone had just slapped him and he couldn't think of what he did to deserve it.

"You…landed on her?" Wolf questioned disbelievingly.

Alex nodded pitifully, feeling worse by the second. "Yes-Snake, can I have my bloody meds now?"

Snake seemed to hesitate, but reached out to hand them to Alex. As Alex was undoing the lid to alleviate some of his discomfort, an unexpected sound split the air.

No one moved as the annoying buzzing continued from where it was emerging from Wolf's shirt pocket.

"I thought that phone was only for-" Eagle started, and then stopped as Wolf spoke crisply.

"It's MI6." He flipped the phone open.

Waiting was something that Alex had always hated. He was not a patient person and preferred to do what needed to be done instead of depending on someone else.

In this case though, there was no waiting. As soon as the phone was open, and Wolf had said, "Yes?" expectantly, a voice spoke loud enough for them all to hear.

"Get Rider out of the house now, Wolf. We'll find you, just get him away from there now bef-"

The voice was cut off, and like a bomb had exploded, K Unit vaulted into action. Alex had stood up without even realizing it when Wolf had mentioned who it was calling, and now, he was grabbed by his wrist and forcefully pulled toward the door.

Almost as if it were background noise, Alex heard his medication fall to the floor where the contents scattered across the tiles.

Two different hands urged him out the door that was thrown open hard enough to bounce off the wall. K Unit was talking so loudly and fast to each other that Alex only caught a few words as all four of them ran across the yard.

A tremendous noise split the quiet neighborhood, and even knowing he should not glance back and witness what Scorpia had planned to take place, Alex looked.

Slowly, as if the wind was forcing it to tilt, the telephone pole standing between Alex's home and his neighbors fell with a cracking sound. As it landed on the roof of his home, Alex started to resist K Unit.

The pole barely made a dent in his roof. With all the panic, Alex almost laughed at the mediocre attempt at taking his life.

"Look, it's just the bloody telephone pole! We're fine," Alex said, and perhaps it was the pain that made him want to stop running so bad, but he felt as if going any farther might just cause him to collapse.

Wolf had Alex's arm in a vice grip, even though he too glanced back. "Cub-stop fighting! If you really think that's all they are going to do, you're a fuc-!"

His next words never got spoken. With no warning, the quiet street was disturbed by an explosion. It rocked the ground bringing Alex and Snake to the ground while the others stumbled to hold their footing.

"Get Cub out of here-"

Again, there was an explosion, though this one was smaller. Through Alex's dazed eyes, he could see flames slowly licking at the sides of what had been his home.

Neighbors were exiting their own homes; Wolf and Eagle were pulling Alex up and away from the destruction.

Now, with the smell of questionable chemicals in his nostrils, Alex was running. People were yelling behind him, voices that he had only ever heard speaking calmly and politely were now raised in panic.

"Don't go in a straight path!" Snake yelled as he jerked Alex off the road to run through someone's back garden. Under him, Alex's legs ran faster than he had in a month. He tried to stay at the speed of K Unit, but they were not injured and it was difficult.

Alex felt the tension from the others, and it urged him to fight the pain and keep moving.

"There was something in those meds," Snake said briskly, sounding angry, but not at Alex who was finding it increasingly difficult not to stumble. He could not think straight, his house was gone-and everything he owned.

"The source of the explosion?" Eagle asked, as they turned down a larger, busier street.

"I don't know, perhaps it was the activator, but not the source itself," Wolf said as they jogged down the pavement to an unknown destination. "Dammit, where is MI6?"

"There always late-"Alex said as he tried to keep up with K Unit. His usual well kept up physic had suffered from his last run in with the assassin hired by Scorpia.

Steering Alex in-between two other homes, K Unit pulled him across the street. Though it was not busy at first glance, they did not notice the car that sped around the corner. Wolf cussed loudly, and then the screeching sound of brakes being pushed to their limits made the rest of them take notice.

The car swerved in an arch and stopped in front of them.

His heart was beating loudly; Alex stepped back from the vehicle. At the same time, the driver stepped out shakily before her anger caught up with her.

"What the hell! Seriously, what the bloody buggering hell is wrong with you-" She suddenly stopped her rant and seemed to focus on one of them. "Alex?" At first, Alex did not recognize her; it had been so long since he'd been at school.

It was Missy Sangster, school gossip and best friend of the head of Alex's school's newspaper.

"Shit," Alex muttered. Now he would be known as the drugged up kid that hung out with older men...Missy continued without hearing his curse.

"You look terrible-is this your drug posse? Hello," she said jokingly to a staring K Unit before turning back to Alex. "You can come back to school now, everyone's over you-because Millie and Leo broke up, it's a terrible shame..." She drifted off and then zoomed in on Alex again. "What are you doing, and in your _pajamas_? Are-are you in trouble? I know someone who can help; she got me over my Shopaholic syndrome."

In return, Wolf did the last thing Alex could have expected.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry to do this-but I need to borrow your vehicle." With those stunning words, he marched up the car pulling Alex with him.

"What-?" Missy moved back as Wolf came closer to the car, her high hills clicking on the pavement. Wolf gave her an apologetic look, wrenched the door to the back of the car open and shoved Alex in.

Alex bounced on the curious gray material of the seat, and Snake quickly climbed in beside him with Eagle riding shot-gun.

"It's for your benefit, trust me. Thank you for your contribution to the Protect Alex Society," Wolf jumped in as Missy stared in awestruck horror. Turning the key, Wolf swiftly turned the car around and sped off.

"Sorry, Missy!" Alex yelled out the window as he stared back at the figure standing dumbfounded in the middle of the empty street.

With that, Alex turned around in the seat and slumped down. His legs were shaking slightly from exertion, and yes, as Missy had said, he was in his pajamas. At least they were not the ones with cowboy hats Jack had gotten him as a joke but he still deigned to wear.

Wolf was talking quickly to Eagle in the front while Snake kept turning to glance out the back.

"You know where to go, right Wolf?" It was getting darker; the streetlights were coming on as the sky took on the hues of sunset.

"Yes, Snake, I only practiced this three times," Wolf replied testily. "I know where we're going and five different ways to get there."

"Overachiever much?" Alex muttered, even though he was surprised and pleased at Wolf's determination when it came to the plan to keep him safe. He had changed, even within the short time they had spent with each other today, Alex felt like he knew them all better.

They drove on the outskirts of any well-populated areas, sticking to back roads. Alex found himself impressed by Wolf; the man really did seem to have practiced the course they were taking.

Glancing out the window as they turned down Wender Street, Alex saw a row of red-brick houses with no front yard to speak of.

It was at the third house on the street that Wolf stopped driving, put the car in park, and exited the vehicle. Alex got out the car carefully at the touch of Snake's light hand on his shoulder.

A pile of leaves had collected at each side of the road from small trees that separated each home. They were crushed under Alex's feet as he exited the car and started up the drive-way with Wolf leading the way and Snake and Eagle bringing up the rear.

As it had this morning, Alex's leg and side were aching.

At the painted red door, Wolf was already knocking and looking back to make sure Alex was following. In one corner of the yard, Alex could see a toy bike on its side.

Blinking in pure confusion as to where he could possibly be and why they would take him here of all places, Alex shifted and wrapped his arms around himself in an effort to stay warm.

The door opened, and a relieved looking John Crawley looked out at them. "Thought I was going to have to come looking for you, Tulip's been calling me every five minutes." Referring to Mrs. Jones as Tulip was one thing. John Crawley saying it, complete with thinning hair and old, plaid pajamas, was quite another and Alex cracked a tired, almost goofy smile.

Crawley opened the door for them to come in, nodding at Alex in greeting. "Rider...you look worse than normal."

Again, Alex smiled. It seemed the only thing he was capable of doing now. The fake pain relievers had caused dizziness and a heightened sense of pain. That combined with the already fatal disaster Scorpia had set up would have resulted in death. However, with K Unit there to lead him about, Alex had survived.

"The kid needs some pain medication, John," Snake was saying, trying to keep his voice low.

A rush of gratefulness spread over Alex, he was trying not to think about it, but the events of today had tired him so much. The ache in his side almost throbbed.

"Come on, Cub," Wolf's hand on his shoulder gently pulled him away from the wall he was leaning heavily on and into the clean living room. The comfortable sofa looked better than any bed, and Alex sat down at Wolf's gesture and leaned back.

"I think there was something built into the medication bottle," Snake was saying to Crawley as they came into the living room. "It just struck me as wrong. Then the explosion came from inside the house-"

"Write this down for the investigation," Eagle suggested as Crawley held out two white pills to Alex and a glass of water. Snake muttered something about a pen and paper and left the room.

Swallowing the pills, Alex sipped the water and muttered a truthful, "Thank you," to Crawley who nodded.

"MI6 will be paying for everything you lost, Alex. I just want you to know that first of all. Also, we received a letter from Scorpia, taking about your funeral five minutes before the actual explosion took place. They did not expect you to survive," Crawley said.

"Truthfully, it was a foolish attempt on their part. The plan was probably not backed by all of Scorpia as it was so badly executed," Snake said.

"Revenge makes a lot of people foolish," Eagle muttered.

"Mr. Blunt discussed that an identity change may be a last resort, for both you and Ms. Starbright-she's fine, by the way. MI6 was keeping track of all calls made to and from your house and had her followed for protection. She's been put up in a hotel for the night. You can call her tomorrow if you wish."

Alex nodded; he did not feel like talking anymore, though he could think of many things to say. An identity change? That seemed so drastic-but, so was Scorpia and their hunger for revenge.

How would Jack feel about that? Would Jack still be with him if that did happen, or would he be put with a different family? A new family...

"Cub?" Alex looked up, knowing his battling emotions were showing across his face.

Wolf sighed, Alex's frustration mirrored in his expression. "Don't think about it now, Cub, okay? That's something to worry about tomorrow, and you're safe now, we won't let anything hurt you."

He knew this, and yet wondered how long that promise would last. Consistency was not something that Alex had ever been able to depend on.

Eagle, lounging across from them in his own chair, suddenly laughed. Alex could not think of anything funny at the moment and raised an eyebrow with an extreme amount of effort.

"That girl-"

"Missy?" Alex offered.

"Yeah, her," Eagle said. "I wonder what she did after we stole her car?"

Eagle started laughing harder between speaking, "It was for a good cause-" Here Wolf chimed in, a grin already spreading across his face as they said together, "The Protect Alex Society!"

"Stealing cars from young teen girls for one year and counting," Snake offered as he came back into the room in time to catch the last of what Wolf and Eagle were saying.

"I know one thing," Wolf said. "Cub, we either just worsened your reputation by-like, a lot...or you're the most popular guy in school."

Alex groaned, pressing his face into one of Crawley's throw pillows. Even with the jokes taken out on him, Alex could not be mad. Overall he was happy to be unharmed and know that Jack was alive and well.

Here, finally feeling safe enough to let his guard down a bit. "Think I'll ever see you guys again?"

"Without a doubt."

It didn't matter who had answered, just that there was a lot of confidence in those three words. Most of all, Wolf's sentence repeated in his head leading him to the dizzy, but comfortable feeling that led to sleep, 'You're safe now'.

**Author's Note:** This story was written for Spyfest 2011 and my recipient chaosdragon, hope you liked! Took me long enough to post this, but I wanted to look it over really well before freeing it. Any and all mistakes are mine, please tell me if you notice any! I read it aloud so it would easier to notice typos, and it took 53 minutes to read and edit, le gasp! (That's French for gasp...not really). :P

Reviews are fuel, my caffeine, a form a love-have I laid these hints down heavily enough? Seriously though, comments, faves in all forms and alerts are appreciated so much! For those that read Faint Hearted, I truly intend to have the new chapter out **next Friday**. Apologizes for taking so bloody long, cross your fingers that I can buy a new laptop soon!


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